This invention relates to hair braiding apparatus, and more particularly to mechanized hair braiding apparatus which braids natural hair and weaves artificial hair into braids of natural hair.
Hair braiding is an ancient art. Even today it is usually practiced by hand. Some modern hair styles rely on weaving small braids over the entire scalp and thus require considerable time and labor. The prior art discloses many inventions directed to mechanizing the task of braiding hair. Generally these are complex machines intended to completely mechanize the task of braiding. Such machines will be complicated to manufacture, and thus relatively expensive in the retail hair-care market. The present invention is intended to solve this problem by partially mechanizing the task of braiding hair. The present invention allows the human braider to work faster and more accurately than by hand, yet it is simple to manufacture and operate. It may be used to weave strands of artificial hair into natural hair. Further, the apparatus may be safely used by young children to braid hair, including doll hair. The present invention is an improvement over the invention of applicant E. Olayinka Ogunro described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,670, "Hair Braiding Apparatus and Method."